is a

Shingon Shingon monks at Mount Koya is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra. Kn ...

temple in Hakata,

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...

, Japan. Its honorary '' sangō'' prefix is . It was founded by

Kūkai Kūkai (; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835Kūkai was born in 774, the 5th year of the Hōki era; his exact date of birth was designated as the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, some 400 years later, by the Shingon se ...

in 806, making it the oldest

temple on the island of Kyushu.

History

According to tradition,

or Kobo-daishi set up this temple when he came back from China and prayed for the eastward dissemination of Tantric Buddhism. It was originally situated by the seaside, but after burning down at the end of the 16th century, it was relocated to the present site by Kuroda Tadayuki, the second lord of Chikuzen province. The second, the third, and the eighth lord of the

Kuroda clan Kuroda (written: lit. "black ricefield") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese painter *Akinobu Kuroda 黒田明伸, Japanese historian *Chris Kuroda, lighting designer and operator for the band Phish and Jus ...

are buried here.

Senju kannon

The temple houses a

senju kannon Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She w ...

('thousand-armed Goddess of Mercy', Avalokiteshvara) statue made in the

Heian era The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

. It was carved from a single log of Chinese black pine. The statue is only 87 centimeters in height but stands up with a stately atmosphere. As a "hidden Buddha" it is concealed and can only be seen during the birthday celebrations for Kūkai. In 1904, it was designated as a national treasure.

Rokkaku-dō

This is a hexagonal (''rokkaku'') building with revolving bookshelves for sutras and sculptures. In 1842, the local merchant Bungoya Eizō raised money from merchants throughout western Japan and invited a carpenter named Itō Hirazaemon to build this sanctum. The building is open on the 28th of every month

Daibutsu

The carving of a daibutsu, or large Buddhist statue, started in 1988 and it took four years to finish. The statue is 10.8 meters in height and 30 tons in weight. After the daibutsus of

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

and Kamakura, this is the largest statue of a seated Buddha in Japan. The ring of light behind the Buddha stands 16.1 meters in height and is carved with numerous images of Buddha. Besides the statue is a treasure exhibition hall. File:Tocho-ji-Hakata.jpg File:Gojunoto Tower of Tochoji Temple in January 2019.jpg File:Gojunoto Tower of Tochoji Temple 2.jpg File:Toucyou Buddhist temple 2011PA.jpg File:Daishido Hall of Tochoji Temple 2.jpg File:Rokkakudo Hall of Tochoji Temple 2.jpg File:東長寺 - panoramio.jpg File:Tochōji-Rokkakudo-internal-tabernacle.jpg,

File:Cherry trees in Tochoji Temple.JPG File:ChikuzenMeishozue-2-Tochoji.jpg, 1821

External references

Yokanavi.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tocho-Ji Buddhist temples in Fukuoka Prefecture Shingon Buddhism Buildings and structures in Fukuoka Tourist attractions in Fukuoka